Bacterial Respiration?!

[90210]

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I'm a little confused about this. How exactly can some bacteria undergo the Krebs Cycle without mitochondria? I recall Krebs Cycle taking place in the matrix of the mitochondria. Considering all bacteria do not have membrane bound organelles (including mitochondria), how is this even possible? Is this a special exception and does this apply to aerobic and facultative bacteria only?

 

[liveoak]

don't they have the proper enzymes in their p-membrane, mesosomes or something 😕

 

[V5RED]

Mitochondria are bacteria.
edit: (not literally, but close enough)(also reworded to make it clearer)

Look up the endosymbiotic theory.

http://www.biology.iupui.edu/biocourses/N100/2k2endosymb.html

 

[MT Headed]

To directly answer your question, the bacterial Krebs Cycle occurs in their cytosol. Remember, the Krebs Cycle just converts AcetylCoA into high energy molecules like NADH and FADH2, kicking out CO2. It doesn't really require a membrane or membrane bound organelles like mitochondria.

The more interesting topic is where and how do bacteria do the electron transport train? The answer is pretty cool:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_transport_chain#Electron_transport_chains_in_bacteria